The present invention relates to mailing wrappers for magazines and the like, and more particularly to an improved two part mailing wrapper which is adapted for use with mass circulation magazines and which includes information soliciting and facilitating the renewal of subscriptions for the magazines.
Traditionally, magazine publishers have realized a greater profit margin from the renewal of a subscription than from the original subscription. Consequently magazine publishers have, for a number of years, been seeking economical and effective methods to solicit subscribers to renew their subscriptions.
Today, as in the past, probably the most commonly accepted method of soliciting subscription renewals is to send the subscriber letters encouraging him to renew. The publisher begins sending solicitation letters to a subscriber at a pre-selected time prior to the expiration of the subscription and continues to send letters, at regular intervals, until a pre-selected time after the expiration of the subscription unless, of course, the subscriber renews in the interim. Generally each solicitation letter is different and each frequently contains enclosures, such as a renewal order form or notice and a business reply envelope, which are designed to make it as convenient as possible for the subscriber to renew.
However, while the solicitation letter method is presently thought to be one of the most effective methods of soliciting renewals, it has been estimated that an average of seven solicitation letters must be sent to a subscriber in order to induce him to renew his subscription. Thus, the cost of preparing and mailing a series of solicitation renewals is a relatively expensive method of soliciting renewals, and in recent years, has become even more expensive due, at least in part, to the increase in postal rates since each letter that is sent requires separate postage.
Insofar as I am personally aware, there have been no prior magazine mailing wrappers which have included subscription renewal information and which are capable of usage in connection with mass circulation magazines. In the past, however, it has been proposed that a mailing cover for a mail order catalog could be constructed so as to include a mailing card as a part of a fastening flap. The mailing card was designed to be detached by the recipient of the catalog and to be returned to the publisher. Such a mailing cover is disclosed in the U.S. Corcoran Pat. No. 1,283,680. It has also been suggested that a wrapping sheet for cylindrical packages could include a plurality of leaves which may contain directions or other information relative to the goods enclosed by the wrapping sheet and which remain intact after the wrapping sheet has been severed by means of a longitudinal severing strip. The U.S. Lambert Pat. No. 881,011 discloses such a wrapping sheet. However, neither the above mailing cover nor the above wrapping sheet could be utilized as a mailing wrapper for magazines that have to be mailed under the high speed conditions required for today's mass circulation magazines.
In the past, it has also been a relatively common practice for pieces of mail, and particularly for advertising mailing pieces, to include integral, but detachable, reply cards for the purpose of permitting convenient response to the mailing piece. Examples of such mailing pieces are disclosed in the U.S. Young Pat. No. 1,287,562; the U.S. Deutschmeister Pat. No. 1,682,167; the U.S. Pomeranz Pat. No. 2,330,619; the U.S. Tilly Pat. No. 2,723,078; the U.S. Howard Pat. No. 2,874,892; the U.S. Naish Pat. No. 2,909,313; the U.S. Wood Pat. No. 3,093,296; and the U.S. Caine Pat. No. 3,303,987. However, none of the foregoing, patented mailing pieces are capable of usage as a mailing wrapper for mass circulation magazines.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved mailing wrapper for magazines and the like, and particularly for mass circulation magazines, wherein subscription renewal information may be sent to the magazine subscriber with the magazine but without requiring the payment of any additional postage. A related object of the present invention is to provide an improved mailing wrapper of the type described wherein the wrapper includes a first outer sheet adapted to be wrapped about the magazine during mailing and a second inner sheet which may be utilized to transmit subscription renewal information, such as a subscription renewal order notice and a business reply envelope, to the subscriber of the magazine. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved mailing wrapper of the type described wherein the subscription renewal information is detachably secured to the cover of the magazine so that the subscription renewal information will be positioned to readily catch the attention of the subscriber when the mailing wrapper is removed from about the magazine.
More specifically, the improved two part mailing wrapper of the present invention is adapted to be quickly and easily wrapped about a magazine such that it can be used with mass circulation magazines and is also adapted to be utilized to transmit subscription renewal information, such as a subscription renewal order notice and a business reply envelope, to solicit and facilitate the renewal of the magazine subscription. This improved mailing wrapper includes a first outer sheet that is adapted to be wrapped about the magazine during mailing. This first sheet is generally rectangular in shape, and has a pre-selected length which is greater than the peripheral dimension of the magazine when the magazine is positioned for mailing. A first perforated line is formed in the first sheet and between the ends thereof. This first perforation line extends from one side edge of the first sheet to the other and permits the recipient of the magazine to manually and easily severe the first sheet along the first perforation line.
The improved mailing wrapper also includes a second, rectangular sheet which has a width no greater than the width of the first sheet and which has a pre-selected length that is less than the pre-selected length of the first sheet. A second perforation line is formed in the second sheet and between the ends thereof. One ends of the first and second sheets are secured together by means of a permanent glue or adhesive so that these one ends are substantially aligned and so that the first sheet overlies the second sheet. The portion of the second sheet, remote from the one end of the second sheet, includes subscription renewal information and is not secured to the first sheet.
When the improved wrapper of the present invention is wrapped about a magazine for mailing, the second sheet is disposed adjacent to the magazine, with the first sheet forming an outer cover for both the magazine and the second sheet such that the second sheet is not visible to a person looking at the magazine. The second sheet is positioned, with respect to the magazine, so that the portion of the second sheet containing the subscription renewal information overlies a part of the cover of the magazine. A line of fugutive glue is used to detachably secure that portion of the second sheet to the cover of the magazine. The other end of the first sheet is folded about the magazine and is secured, by means of an adhesive, to the outer face of the first sheet, adjacent to the one end of the first sheet so that the second perforation line in the second sheet is disposed adjacent to the first perforation line and between the first perforation line and the one end of the first sheet.
As a result of the construction and arrangement of the improved mailing wrapper of the present invention, when the subscriber or recipient of the magazine severes the first sheet along the first perforation line, the subscription renewal information, printed on the second sheet, will become immediately visible as the severed portions of the first sheet are separated. If the subscriber is interested in the subscription renewal information, the portion of the second sheet containing this information may be severed from the remainder of the second sheet, which is temporarily secured to the cover of the magazine, by tearing the second sheet along the second perforation line. Since the second sheet is attached to the magazine by fugitive glue, the second sheet can be readily detached from the magazine cover before or after the subscription renewal information portion thereof has been severed.
To facilitate the severence of the first sheet, a notch may be die cut in the first sheet adjacent to an end of the first perforation line. Also, the first and second sheets may be made from different and contrasting colored papers, and additional subscription renewal information may be printed on the inside face of the first sheet, adjacent to the first perforation line, to assist in the solicitation of the magazine subscription renewal. Furthermore, regularly spaced, machine feed apertures may be formed along at least the one ends of the first and second sheets so that the first and second sheets may be processed in conventional forms handling equipment thereby permitting the name and address of the subscriber to be printed on the outside face of the first sheet and on the second sheet prior to the first and second sheets being wrapped about the magazine.
As noted above, the improved mailing wrapper of the present invention is constructed and arranged so that a magazine and the improved wrapper may still be permitted to be mailed at second class publication postal rates, i.e. mailed at the same postal rate as the magazine would be mailed with a conventional, single sheet wrapper. This is obviously an important advantage, from a standpoint of commercializing the invention, since subscription renewal information can be sent to a subscriber at no additional mailing cost. Moreover, as a consequence of the usage of the improved mailing wrapper of the present invention, the subscription renewal information is positioned, with respect to the magazine, so that the subscriber will assuredly see the same when he removes the wrapper from about the magazine. Market tests have demonstrated that the improved mailing wrapper of the present invention is quite effective in securing the prompt renewal of the magazine subscriptions. Thus the usage of this improved mailing wrapper would appear to provide a magazine publisher with significant advantages over the prior magazine mailing wrappers and prior methods of soliciting subscription renewals.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of this invention, described in connection with the accompanying drawings.